Want to buy your first car? Help is here!

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I had an 04 Megane 1.5 dCi sport hatch. What a pile of crap. I now have a 56 Peugeot 307 Estate 1.6 HDi 110. Soooo much better, but not an ideal first car.

Reply 2961

banterr

any suggestions? no idea what to get. budget ~£2,500

Reply 2962

KCLeblanc

Erm, there's a lot to choose from.

I'd start by having a look round some garages, pick out the cars you like to look of (maybe even test drive a few).

Before you shell out any money come back here and let us know what you're keen on. We should then be able to give some pointers and maybe make some more suggestions.

Also make sure you get some insurance quotes, insurance can be an odd beast and often similar cars have very different insurance costs.

Reply 2963

ruby321

Original post by Jiraya Sama

That's why I would always prefer to pay cheaper insurance. Insurance is insurance, just money which is going to be wasted. I know people say just in case but I am a careful/will be driving carefully.

Rethinking of buying the £220 car thought, apparently a "MOT" will not be done prior to being sold to me so decided not to buy it. Might spend the "insurance + car money" on the new Iphone 5 :biggrin:

Haha I want both a car and an iphone 5!! lol. I'm not very good at being a student, will be broke before I even start the year :colondollar:

But if I can't afford it I'm choosing car! Yeah an MOT is quite important, buy one with at least 6 months, you never know. Same, I'm careful too, the things you could have otherwise done with that money :frown:

Reply 2964

Kage

Original post by ruby321

Snap! I have the newer model though. I was so close to buying the older one but they were the same price except for insurance obviously... Haha I don't think about the image either, its a car I need it to get from A to B! See I bought a good car instead of a crap one because I'd like to sell it in the future. I could get most of my money back on it as the milage is really low when I bought it! (well I hope I can.) But I suppose if you spend only £220 and it lasts you a few years you wouldn't mind if it goes to scrappage lol :smile:

(you may even get more from scrappage) I guess I'm just paranoid that cheap or high milage cars will brake down on me the first week :s-smilie:

I've been thinking about it for few days and now really considering it selling it and getting one with cheaper insurance. Insurance is such a waste, it all goes down the drain :frown:

I guess I'll just have to think of it as if its "rent money" as I didn't live out last year.

The newer Micra's apparently are harder to mantain than the older ones, and an expensive part can go on them.

My Micra K11 has done 13,500 miles now in its 9 year life, and its MOT is due this Thursday, so I'm hoping it passes.

If it doesn't, it will be due to the dent I have at the back where the spare tyre is from a crash my mum actually caused. If that needs fixing, it's going to cost around £500 to put right, then have to put on that, the servicing costs to fix a few issues, and the insurance lump sum to begin with (over £300).

Going to be an expensive month.

Reply 2965

PrinceyJ

I dont understand this. When using money supermarket and putting in their recommended cheapest insurable car for new drivers (they did some top ten thing) I still get ridiculous quotes. The cheapest I have managed to get so far is £9,500. I've added a second driver, but I don't understand how people can get quotes in the £2,000 range. I live in a really nice area also, so I don't think that has anything to do with it.

Reply 2966

lucy-rose

Original post by PrinceyJ

Is it a brand new car you're putting into the search? This might have something to do with it. More expensive cars are more expensive to insure is what I found.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 2967

Herr

Original post by A Mysterious Lord

Hmm, is it socially acceptable for a guy to drive a Ford Ka or Nissan Micra (pre-2002)?

I drove a Fiat 500 for a couple of months, one thing for sure it will definitely increase your profile among females :smile:

In the first 2 months of owning it 5 girls at random started speaking to me asking about it and usually led on to speaking on other topics.

Both the KA and Micra isn't particularly "girl cars" anyway.

Reply 2968

linkdapink

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me decide something really. I'm taking my test on Friday and really NEED to pass, so even if I don't, I'll be going for cancellations all over the place! My parents have given me some money to get a car, and I don't know whether to start looking now, or just wait until the weekend after my test so I know if I've passed or not? I don't mind insuring a car as a provisional driver, and having it on the drive most of the time.

Also, I'm wanting a Yaris. I don't know what I'm looking for exactly, but does this sound ok: less than 10years old, less than 70,000 miles. For about £2,500 ish? I've seen a diesel one that I'm DYING FOR, but its likely to be sold by the time I pass!

What should I be looking for with used cars? Is it worth paying for one of those "check the cars history" things?

Reply 2969

StevenF

Original post by linkdapink

If you have a budget for Insurance then quote up how much the car will cost before you buy it. You'll notice it ROCKET up once you've passed your test. However I don't see what difference it would make getting it now or shortly when you pass your test

Definitely worth using that 'mytextcheck' for £2 or so which will tell you if it's been scrapped, stolen or written off. It also gives you good information like what price it should be worth, what mpg it should average, etc.

You want to go look at the car and ask the person selling to take it a run with you in the passenger seat, listen out for any obvious knocking (even if you know nothing about cars, you'll still recognize a suspension about to go by the noise of it) and check all the electronics work (ask him to show you if possible).

Finally make sure when you do buy the car that the papers for transferring ownership are legitimate (google what they should look like).

Oh and for £2500, that mileage and age should be no bother, for a 2002 yaris with 70k miles, i'd want to pay a chunk less than £2500, maybe more £1500. But that my text check thing will tell you what it reckons it's worth, try not to any higher and definitely try bargain yourself a price, say he wants £2500.. your reply is "Well I have £2000 ready to transfer over this second" and if he lowers his, try meet him in the middle. I brought my 1l Corsa B from £700 down to £450 using a method like that.

Good luck!

Reply 2970

linkdapink

Original post by StevenF

Thanks! There's 3 I want to look at today, all around the £2300ish mark (from dealers, not private) so hoping to get around £2000 if I can. Most mileage has been about 56,000 which is quite good for 02/03 ish cars. I'm taking my boyfriend with me, and hopefully my sister. My sister has had about 3/4 cars now, so she should know if something is up with it.

Thankfully, I'm 23, I work as a teacher, and I'm "co-habiting", which keeps my insurance down. Cheapest I've got is about £560 when I'm still provisional and £670ish when I pass.

Reply 2971

StevenF

^ Wow, that's cheap! My sister is also now a teacher and apparently it's one of the best professions for insurance! I'm a 17 year old student who passed his test a few months ago so my insurance, for a 1L 3Cylinder 1999 Corsa which barely moves is a ridiculous £2000 or so..

Reply 2972

PrinceyJ

Original post by lucy-rose

No it's a Y reg and it's value is less than a grand

Reply 2973

linkdapink

Original post by PrinceyJ

No it's a Y reg and it's value is less than a grand

Old cars are usually more expensive to insure because they're unreliable and lack some of the safety features of newer cars.

Reply 2974

emznjav

Ive got a seat ibiza 1.9 tdi it's a rocket lol

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2975

AaronShort555

Hey everyone, this is my first car, a 1970 morris minor :smile:

£754 to insure, fun to drive, gets good looks, whats not to like?
apart from the reliability and fuel economy haha

Reply 2976

mbutt94

Hi

Having trouble deciding between a few cars for a first buy.

2008 1.2 vw polo £4000 35000 miles
2009 1.4 ford fiesta £7000 20000 miles
2007 1.4 vw golf £7000 40000 miles

Would it be worth spending extra on a 1.4 polo instead of the 1.2?

Reply 2977

shaminn

Original post by mbutt94

I think the Golf isn't worth it, because I have a funny feeling the insurance would be a bit higher. With the Polo, do a check on insurance. It may be worthwhile if you are looking for a bit of a faster car etc.

If you are willing to spend £7000 on a fiesta, why not look at the new shape Polo's from 2010 upwards?

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2978

Kevmeister

Original post by mbutt94

Fiesta is way overpriced - you can get a brand new one with a 1.25 for £9000. Do NOT spend £7k on a three year old 1.4 Fiesta. A quick autotrader search shows they're going for circa £5500.

Reply 2979

TheFatController

Original post by emznjav

Hi i am 18 years old and male and am wanting to purchase a first car for myself. I will be travelling around 80 miles everyday from sheffield to bradford and back so need a reliable and safe car for the motorways. I was looking at honda civics etc and can get insurance on these for roughly £1200 with co-op so not too bad. I would like some advice from current owners please?

Regards

emznjav

Astra Mk4

Original post by linkdapink

Old cars are usually more expensive to insure because they're unreliable and lack some of the safety features of newer cars.

I've found that the main deciding factor in insurance cost (especially on comparison sites) is the book value of the vehicle - moreso than the insurance group and engine size - but that could just be because of the age of car that's in my price range